CNN Prioritizes Muslim Soldier/Anti-Christian's Lawsuit Against Army

While viewers might have expected to see the latest on the oil spill
in the Gulf of Mexico or Tuesday's electoral primaries, CNN's Campbell
Brown devoted the first two segments on her program on Monday to
highlighting the apparent religious bigotry inside the U.S. Army -
specifically, the upcoming lawsuit of a Muslim who alleges he was
harassed and ridiculed due to his religion.

Brown played the interview of the soldier, Specialist Zachari
Klawonn, during the first full segment, which began 2 minutes into the 8
pm Eastern hour. Klawonn was joined by his lawyer, Randal Mathis, as
well as the commanding officer of his battalion, Colonel Jimmy Jenkins.
As she introduced the segment, the anchor emphasized how the specialist
is "a model soldier," "exactly what the Army says it is looking for,"
and how he "has an exemplary service record, and has earned the praise
of both his commanders and his Army buddies."

During the interview, Brown asked Klawonn about the alleged
anti-Muslim harassment he has received, and questioned his commanding
officer about the actions he took to solve the issue. After the
specialist gave some general examples of the offending behavior, Colonel
Jenkins detailed his responsibility as brigade commander: "...My sole
goal is to make sure he and the other 2,200 soldiers in the brigade-
their safety is paramount. I'm charged with the combat readiness of the
brigade, and if my soldiers don't feel safe, then I have failed. So, I
have worked personally with Specialist Klawonn on a quite a few
occasions to see what I could do to make him feel safer."

The specialist also mentioned during the interview that he was
"working with the Military Religious Freedom Foundation" in filing his
lawsuit. The CNN anchor brought on the founder and president of the
MRFF, Michael Weinstein, along with Thomas Kenniff, a former Army JAG,
during the second segment.

More egregiously, The Philadelphia Jewish Voice newspaper interviewed
Weinstein in February 2008, and the MRFF president used
anti-Christian language several times in his answers. He referred to Mel
Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" as the "Jesus Chainsaw Massacre"
and denounced the Officers' Christian Fellowship and the Christian
Military Fellowship as "variances of this Christian Taliban and the
Christian al-Qaeda." He even compared the "Christian Taliban"
supposedly inside the military to the members of the Nazi Party who
supported Hitler, or the Communist Party members who aided Stalin. Brown
didn't bring up any of this during her interview of Weinstein.

Kenniff, the anchor's other guest, on the other hand, expressed his
concerns over the specialist's lawsuit:

KENNIFF: One thing that concerns me, though, is what I
see as- you know, somewhat of a lack of specificity in the
allegations made by Specialist Klawonn. You know, for instance, he
cites numerous cases of harassment. What I would like to know is- you
know, does he have the names of the soldiers who are harassing him? Was
it reported? Did he name names? Was there an investigation? Because the
type of conduct that he at least alleges in some of the complaints- I
mean, the destruction of his Koran, the threatening note left on his
door or on his truck- I mean, that would certainly give rise, if not to
full-blown criminal conduct within the military, then to non-judicial
punishment....

The transcript of Brown's interview of Weinstein and Keniff, which
began 12 minutes into the 8 pm Eastern hour of Monday's Campbell Brown
program, starting with the anchor's first question to the MRFF
president:

BROWN: So, Michael, it's not exactly in the
Army's interest here to have soldiers being harassed. So, I mean, what
possible motivation, I guess, do they have to not act to protect their
soldiers?

WEINSTEIN: Well, I think part of the problem is, is that there is
such a tremendous inherent- you know, bias against Muslim-Americans in
the military. We see it every day with the Military Religious Freedom
Foundation. For instance, at some military installations, when you walk
into the military clothing store, the only books that they're selling,
religious books, are the camouflage Bible and then another book called
'The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam,' which is an absolute slam on
the entire faith.

BROWN: So- so-

WEINSTEIN: When you hear- wait. Let me just say one other thing.

BROWN: Yeah.

WEINSTEIN: When you hear soldiers running in formation- you know,
they're often- they will have marching chants or running chants. They'll
use the word 'hajji,' which is a- as negative to a Muslim-American as
the N-word is to an African-American or the K-word to a Jewish-American
or an S-word to an Hispanic-American, and it's done with reckless and
complete- total abandon. And- you know, fish in an aquarium never see
the water.

BROWN: So, let me ask you both this question, and here's the
challenge- is during a time when we are fighting two wars in Muslim
countries, and when we face a threat of Islamic terrorism, how much can
the Army really do to control what soldiers think of Muslims or Islam?
Tom, you answer first.

KENNIFF: Yeah- you know, I think that's a great question, Campbell.
It's also one of the concerns I had with- you know, Mikey's client's
lawsuit, because a lot of the allegations seem to rail against a hostile
culture within the military. And, look, I don't doubt for one second-
in fact, I can speak firsthand to the fact that that does exist in
certain instances with respect to Muslim-Americans within the military. I
would hope that it's the exception and not the rule, and I know Mikey
may have a different take on that. But- you know, it's very difficult in
the context of a discrimination lawsuit, which is what I think this
probably is.

WEINSTEIN: No.

KENNIFF: Okay. Well, you can tell us what it will be, because I-
frankly, I haven't seen the complaint. I don't even know that it's filed
yet.

WEINSTEIN: Right.

KENNIFF: But- you know, exactly what is the remedy that your client
seeking? I mean, if it's a situation where- you know, there's hostility
within the enlisted ranks or the officer ranks among fellow soldiers,
that's one thing. If it's a situation where it's a top-down- you know,
pattern of discrimination meant to oppress- you know, Muslim-American
soldiers, then I think that's quite another.

BROWN: All right, Mikey?

WEINSTEIN: Well, and, Tom, let me be specific. What we're looking at
doing is filing a federal mandamus action. We believe that all of the
internal regulations and instructions and laws within the Pentagon are
already fine. They're just being ignored with impunity and there's no
penalty for that. What we want to do-

BROWN: But, again, go back to the question of how you get the
military to address this, given the world that these soldiers are living
in.

WEINSTEIN: Let me make it very clear. You never get anybody to change
their minds, Campbell, because they suddenly see the light. They have
to feel the heat. We need leaders that will impose the laws that
currently exist. This is old-school prejudice, old-school
discrimination, old-school bigotry, and it cannot be allowed-

BROWN: Gentlemen, we are going to have to leave it there. Tom Kenniff
and Mikey Weinstein, I do appreciate both of you joining us tonight-
really interesting conversation. Thanks so much.

-Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You
can follow him on Twitter here.

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